[DNF] [22 BO] NevadaBlue’s JeepTor (Mk II Updated)

Windy and cold here today. That’s my excuse.

I did get out and measure and photograph the LT1500 front end and frame and the LT4000 front end and frame. The Scientific Rat Rod Calculator, from now on referred to as the SRRC, confirmed that the front end will work for the JeepTor and gave good odds on flipping the axle end for end for left side drag link installation.
The LT4000 frame is 3” high so mounting the front section of the LT1500 on top of it will raise the spindles 3”. Should do it. I do need to measure the spindles on both rigs to confirm all this.

That's pretty neat that they had steering on both sides. Basically you're just going to weld the front section of frame from the one on top of the other?

I think so. That is what I did on the Rat Rod and it worked out OK.
The LT4000 actually has type 1 Craftsman steering right now, so the drag link is under the frame. I need it on top since I am raising the axle. Plus I want the tie rod in front of the axle, so I hope to salvage one of the steering gear sets from either the MTD Square body (that is preferred right now) or another machine. I have a new plan (NOT MORE PLANS!) for the other frame with that type of steering on the left.

It is nice out today, so I went out to attempt to get my old body moving again after hibernation. This will be a CHORE!

I have been working on ideas on how the JeepTor should look and planning what I need to do to get there. I want to use the 20” Carlisle turf savers I have for the front tires. In this pic, I stuck one of those on a front spindle and propped up the cut-in-half rear fender from my little 12-32 MTD 400 parts machine. This will work!



The wheel still has the dumb ‘flat drive’ setup that the FNR axles use. I will have to drill that out so it will fit. Also, there will be NO bearings, so I will be solving that some way. Right now, I will put the little front tires back on so I can drive the tractor while building it.
The big tires on the front will interfere with the HUGE wide front end on this machine. The plan is to cut the side panels of the hood assembly at about where the fender hits it. Then narrow the hinge and rebuild the whole thing with the fenders attached to the hood.
An item on the wish list is to remove the top of the hood from the side panels and hinge it at the rear. So, there would be an opening hood as well as the whole front fender/side panel/grill assembly tilting forward and being removable still. Should work.

And, I was playing with a pic of a front grill. The grill will need to be narrowed about 4 inches on each side, below the headlights. That will fit with the look I want and with the narrowed hinge/side panel assembly. I have a neat set of round LED headlight units from the little ATV that I think I can mount behind the big ‘lens’ on this grill.



Kinda sorta like this:

Oh, I have decided to make this rig as simple as possible. I won’t be replacing the front axle now.
I think the thing looks fine with those tires on the front. Funny thing is that both the back and front are called 20” tires. Sure look different to me.

I do believe that the left front spindle is bent, but I’m hoping to bend it back to where it belongs.

And, I encourage discussion, in ANY of my threads. I’m not new to mechanic stuff, but I’m new to tractor stuff and love to learn.

Please join in!

Same here!

I just started turning wrenches about 2 years ago so I’m getting there!

I really like the way those front fenders look.

Maybe I missed it, but is there a reason for narrowing the nose?

been there and done that on drilling those rims out. just go slow and steady cause the bit likes to grab those flats. that's what i used on my dual wheel trailer. to lube them i drilled straight down the center of the axles and then crossed drilled them through that and put a grease zert in the end. works well !! Keep up the good work.

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

Same here!

I just started turning wrenches about 2 years ago so I’m getting there!

I really like the way those front fenders look.

Maybe I missed it, but is there a reason for narrowing the nose?

I forgot to say why, I think. Those bigger tires will run into the sheetmetal/grill when turning or going over a bump. Plus, the result will look more ‘jeep like’ from the front.

I don’t think it will be too difficult to pull off. The grill is cracked and needs to be repaired anyway. I think the cut will fix that. I will also add the piece that should have been in the hinge assembly while I’m at it. I see that later models have a solid bit of steel between the hinge points.



Looking at the manual for later models, there is metal between the hinges. Mine WILL have it when I’m done with it.



I intend to move the side metal in to about the frame. There may also be some cut out if necessary, not sure yet on that. Hopefully the crack will be mostly cut away. Then I will get to plastic weld… the joints.

diddie wrote:

been there and done that on drilling those rims out. just go slow and steady cause the bit likes to grab those flats. that's what i used on my dual wheel trailer. to lube them i drilled straight down the center of the axles and then crossed drilled them through that and put a grease zert in the end. works well !! Keep up the good work.

Thanks! You made me think about this more. I may go over to my son’s shop and dig in tools. He has all my machine shop stuff, I think I have a 3/4” end mill. I may be able to convince that to do the task.
I also found hub weldments, already machined for bearings and ordered bearings too. That will be a fun task, cut the centers out of the wheels and weld in the new centers.

But, I do want to ‘ream’ out a set of wheels to use on the rear of another rig. I plan to cut a keyway and I think I have figured out how to do that.

That looks like an excellent plan you're cooking up I like it!

As for your (suspected) bent spindle, I highly recommend reinforcing them at the bend, there are plenty of ways like welding a nut (I've seen that here somewhere) or have a look at page 3 of my Warhorse thread to see how I gusseted mine. I'll be mimicking a factory reinforcement I've seen on the Mud Duck and can find pics/links for you if you'd like.

Yep, good idea. I think the axle part is bent UP, the wheel looks like it has negative camber. I’m hoping to take it out, straighten it and, yes, add gussets. I’ll look at. Links would be good or post pics here if you don’t mind. I’ll go look at warhouse.

This is one way...

...and this I believe to be a factory reinforcement which I would like to duplicate on the Mud Duck

That nut thing is neat.

Here is my spindle and what I would like to do to it.





It has a longer space between the hub keeper and the axle end. I also need to check the bushings in the axle ends while I have it disassembled.

That should work well.  One thing to keep in mind, I seen several pictures of that style front axle peeling apart.  I don't think you are planning on aggressive off-roading, but you may need to brace that up.  Not sure if you are familiar with Lucky 7 "Mike Hotaling". His was braced but still gave way causing a wreck breaking his leg pretty bad. (side note... never hear from him in the fb groups I think he sold his stuff)

Thanks for the heads up. I may reinforce it, but this rig is going to live a docile life as a yard wheelchair probably.

MightyRaze wrote:

That should work well.  One thing to keep in mind, I seen several pictures of that style front axle peeling apart.  I don't think you are planning on aggressive off-roading, but you may need to brace that up.  Not sure if you are familiar with Lucky 7 "Mike Hotaling". His was braced but still gave way causing a wreck breaking his leg pretty bad. (side note... never hear from him in the fb groups I think he sold his stuff)

I actually had one of those axles come apart while mowing (Although the guy who owned it before me was <300lbs) it's now the donor for the UTV rig but the axle will be going as it's had the snot welded out of it...

More cogitating from the codger.

I need to do some measuring, but if it will work, I may put the cast iron axle from my LT1000 in this rig. I have a good steel axle I can put in the LT1000 to keep it rolling. I’m not sure, but I think it will work?

Have any of you done this or seen it done?

I have seen rigs like this, not made out of lawn tractors but actually from the factory seen a few of these used, they are super cool, just basically a ATV with a jeep body

Here’s an old roof palomino. It’s an actual lawn tractor believe it or not.

Yeah, but I’m using an LT4000 for a kinda-sorta thing. I’ve looked at the palomino and have plans for several, but that isn’t the build going on here. Maybe in another life.

I did find a video on repairing and reinforcing the existing spindle, so I will probably try that first.

I'm pretty sure the cast axle @Budget_gokart used in his LT series BO tractor he got rid of was from an older Craftsman and although he lifted his he may know if it would've been a strait swap or not?

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1609533292
Found this for sale 10 mins from my place so might be going to look at some of this stuff soon...
Quite crude, I don't really like the guilt trip at the bottom of the ad but it looks like an interesting project...

Those Craftsman tractors are actually pretty good mudders, are you planning on this being a pulley swapped rig or is it just a low speed cruiser?
(I have I bit of a rule, you always want as much speed as you can handle, plus a little more, for example, my mower, it goes about 30ish but I'm having fun in top gear with the pedal to the floor, and now that I'm a little more comfortable driving it it feels a little slow to be honest)

No speed upgrade on this one now. I need a little rig to do things like fence repair/building and yard maintenance. This should give me a good alternative to running the more expensive and larger rigs like my tractor or RTV. Walking around the yard with tools is mostly behind me now.

Fair enough, It's nice to have a cheaper rig for doing smaller stuff, that's mainly what the UTV will act as when I get around to building it, a smaller alternative to the much larger pickup, my math goes as follows:
5000 pound truck, V8 engine
500 pound tractor, V-twin engine 
Should use about a 20th of the gas if my approximations are correct?

No real progress other than watching the left rear tire go flat. Maybe soon…